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F' BITTNER. 2 Sheets Sheet 1.- CUT-OPE1 APPARATUS POR MARINE ENGINES. No. 586,893. Patented July 20, 1897.-

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l GUT-OFF APPARATUS POR MARINE ENGINES. NQ. 586,893.

Patented July 20, 1897.

i. details of the apparatus.

bolted to it.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANZ EITTNER, oF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CUT-OFFiAPPARATUS FOR lVIARINE ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 586,893, dated July 20,. 1897.

Application filed March 5, 1897.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANZ B1rTNER,a subject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, and a resident of New York, county and State o f New York, have invented certain new .and useful Improvements in Cut-Oif Apparatus for Marine Engines, of which the following is.

a full, clear, and exact specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein-- y Figure lis a plan of the stern part of a ship, showing the location of my cut-off apparatus in the body of a ship and its connection with the valve. Fig. 2 isa sectional view thereof drawn on an enlarged scale and showing the operating parts of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a sectional view, partly in elevation, showing Fig. 4 is a top View thereof. Fig. 5 is atop view of the mechanism for moving the cut-off valve. Fig. 6 is a similar view to that shown in Fig. 3, showing a modiiied arrangement of the mechanism for moving the valve. Fig. 7 is a similar view showing a modified construction for operating the valve electrically. Fig. Sis a top view of the ,modified construction shown in Fig. 7.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspending parts in all Views of the drawings.

' My invention relates to ships propelled by steam-power; and it consists of an apparatus for automatically and instantly cutting o the supply of steam to the engines whenever the propeller of the vessel is lifted out of the water, to prevent racing of the propeller, and the resulting increased friction and shaking of the ships body and of its machinery are ob- Viated.

The apparatus consists of a hollow cylinder A open on its lower end and closed by plate h on its top, hollow piston a, piston-rod cl, aircylinder B, piston f, and some suitable mechanism connected with piston-rod d for transmitting the motion of the piston a to the valvegear. A

The air-cylinder B is mounted concentrically upon the top of the cylinder A and is The piston-rod d passes through this air-cylinder and piston f is secured to it. The air-cylinder B is slightly longer than the stroke of the piston a and is provided near its base with outlet-passages g and g', connecting the interior of the air-cylinder with Serial No. 626,042. (No model.)

the outside air. These outlets are so located that the piston f will close them when nearing the lower end of the cylinder.

Cylinder A is set centrally near the stern in the body of the ship and extending from its keel upward to a point somewhat above the periphery of the propeller, and is provided near its top'with the outlet c, connected to discharge-pipe c.

The piston a is hollow and is composed of two parts a audaz, part a being open on top and part a2 being air-tightly closed. This piston is loosely iitted into the cylinder A and the air-tightly-closed space is of such dimension as to slightly overbalance the weight of the piston a when immersed in water. The piston will thus have a tendency to move upward when immersed in water.

In a normal position of the ship when the propeller is immersed in the water in its most efficient position the piston a will be forced by the pressure of the water upward in its position shown in Fig. 2. This is the normal position of the apparatus, the mechanism controlling the valve being then in such position to hold the main steam-supply pipe q open.

Vhen the ship is thrown upward (pitching) and lifted so far out of the water that the plates of the propeller will project above the surface, the water in the cylinder A will rapidly recede from underneath the piston a, and the weight of the water filled in the upper part of the piston will force it downward so far until its weight is again balanced. When the vessel sinks back in its normal position, the water rising in cylinder A will drive piston a upward. Outlet c prevents congestion of water between the top plate h and piston a' that may occur in apparatuses of smaller vessels sailing through chubby seas.

The upper end cl of the piston-rod d is shaped into a rack and operates cog-wheel i', set on shaft lo, pillowed in bracket h. To the same shaft la is rigidly keyed another cogwheel Z, engaging with the rack m, secured to or made in one piece with connecting-rod lm', sliding in bearings n. On the other end of the connecting-rod m is secured to it (or made in one piece therewith) rack 0, gearing with the cog-wheel p, keyed to the stem of the cutoff Valve, set in the steam-supply pipeq.

The motions of the piston a are communi- TOO cated by rod d and rack d' to the cog-wheel fz, and cog-wheel Z, rotating in the same direction, will move connecting-rod nl', transmitting this motion to cog-wheel p, set on the stem of the main valve of the steam-supply pipe, and will turn this valve rapidly or slowly, in accordance with the motions of the ship, thereby turning on or cutting olf, partly or wholly, the supply of steam to the engine.

ln Figs. G and 7 l have shown another mechanism for operating the eut-off valve in accordance with the motion of the piston (l. rlhe mechanism shown in Fig. l consists of a link j, hinged to the top of the piston-rod CZ, lever yr, fulcrumed to post t, and of bell-crank lever s, pivoted to post t" and having one arm, provided with an elongated eye, connected by bolt rp to the shorter arm of lever yr, the other arm being` hinged to connecting-rod on. On the other end of the connecting-rodm a rack may be provided, operating in the same manner as shown in Fig. 5, or if the cut-off valve be a slide then the rod may be directly connected to it. Lever yr oscillates on its fulcrumbolt correspondingly with the motion of the piston a, and bolt rp, engaged in the eye se, moves bell-crank s, transmitting the motion to the connecting-rod m, which operates the valve in the manner described above.

The apparatus shown in Fig. 7 is designed for operating the cut-off valve electrically. For this purpose there are two strips a and u, of copper, set in corresponding grooves on the opposite sides of the piston-rod d. These strips are embedded in insulating material and only their outer surfaces are bare. Brushes r and 1" and u* and w are secured to a bearing, guiding the movement of the rod in such position that when piston d is in its highest position, as shown in Fig. 7, the electrical circuit through brushes w and w' is interrupted, whereas that one through brushes c and c is closed. Both currents are connected to an electric motor operating the eut-off valve. The corresponding brushes are so arranged in relation to the armature of the motor that the current circulating through brushes r and fr' drives it to open the valve.

lVhen the piston a moves downward, strip ily comes into contact with both brushes fr and u", thereby closing their circuit, whereas the opposite circuit (through t' and 12') is interrupted. The current passing through the brushes if: and iu drives the motor to close the cut-off valve. Vhen again the piston a moves upward, returning to its normal position, the motion of the motor is again reversed, the current through w and w closing the valve, being interrupted and the other driving the motor in opposite direction, opening the valve closed. The contact-strips u and u/ are arranged in such position relatively to each other that there is always an interval between the change from one action to the other. This is provided to prevent rapid chan ges in operating the valve.

The function of the air-cylinder B and piston fis to regulate the motions of piston c. and to prevent hard striking and consequent destruction of the apparatus in heavy seas. lt will be observed that during its upward stroke, when the ship falls back into its normal position and the water rushing into the open end of cylinder A drives piston a forcibly upward, piston fwill continue to vcoinpress the air underneath the top of cylinder thereby modifying the force of the stroke,

whereas when piston d descends when the ship is lifted out of the water the air from the air-cylinder B is driven out through the passages g to facilitate a rapid closing of the cut-off valve.

This apparatus is very effective and reliable for its purpose, the cutting off of the supply of steam being effected promptly, either gradually or instantly, and always in strict accordance with the change in the position of the ship, consequently the more effectively the harder the ship pitches. The running of the engines is thereby regulated concurrently with the change of load (resistance of water) upon the propeller.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The combination with a cut-off apparatus, comprising a hollow cylinder open on its lower end, adapted to be secured in the hull of a steam vessel, a weighted piston balanced to float on top of the water, set within the cylinder, a rod connected to the piston and projecting through the head of the hollow cylinder and mechanism for transmitting the motion of the rod to the valve-gear, of a closed air-cylinder provided with air-passages near its base and mounted concentrieally on the top of the hollow cylinder, and of a piston, air-tightly fitted in the air-cylinder, and rigidly connected to the piston-rod of the piston operating in the hollow cylinder.

2. A cut-off apparat-us for marine engines comprising a hollow cylinder open on its lower end, and provided with an outlet near its closed top, a hollow piston loosely tted in the cylinder and having an air-tight compartment and an open space above the air-tight compartment, a hollow (air) cylinder closed oirboth ends set on top of the open cylinder, air-passages provided in the walls of the cylinder near its base, aconnecting-rod secured to the hollow piston and projecting through the closed top of the cylinder, a piston, fitted air-tightly into the air-cylinder and secured to the piston-rod, a valve or slide set in the steam-supply pipe and means for transmitting the motion of the hollow piston to the valve.

A cut-off apparatus for steam vessels com prisin ga hollow cylinder open on its lower end, and provided with an outlet near its closed top, a hollow piston loosely iitted in the cylinder and having an air-tight compartment and an open space above the air-tight compartment, a hollow (air) cylinder closed IOO ' nion set on the saine spindle, a rack mounted in bearings and gearingwith the trunnion, a

connecting-rod secured to the rack, a rack secured on the other end of the connectingrod, and a oog-Wheel set on the stem of the main Valve of the engine and gearing With the rack.

In Witness that I claim the improvements described in the foregoing specification I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

' FRANZ BITTNER. Witnesses:

A. W. KURZ, HARRY CALHOUN. 

